California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was taught, as many youngsters are, to think of the glass as half full instead of half empty.

But his parents put a twist on that saying.

“My parents always taught me the glass is onlyhalf full. You get to fill it up,” he told an audience of more than 500 people at the Cesar E. Chavez Community Breakfast, held Friday morning in downtown San Diego.

This is the 19th year the local commemoration committee has held the event to honor the late social justice activist and co-founder of United Farm Workers.

“You see, for someone who had so very little, even whether (it was) my parents or Cesar Chavez, the glass was always on its way up,” Becerra said. “Yet too many people in America feel like the glass is on its way down. And maybe it’s because I’m the son of immigrants, but for me I don’t have a right not to be optimistic.”

Becerra delivered the keynote address to a packed ballroom at the Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter hotel. As the state’s top law enforcement officer, he acknowledged the many men and women in uniform who attended the event as well as several elected officials, including San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott.

When introducing Becerra, Elliott noted she had many things in common with the new attorney general, who was appointed to the office in January after his predecessor, Kamala Harris, became a U.S. senator.

Elliott said they both had mothers who were born in Mexico, both grew up in working-class families and were the first in their families to graduate from college.

“We both became lawyers and have committed our careers to public service,” Elliott said. “And we’re both first in our respective positions. I’m the first woman and the first Latina to be San Diego’s city attorney and he is our state’s first Latino attorney general.”

She didn’t say this, but both are both Democrats.

Becerra’s legal career began in 1984, when he worked for a legal services agency representing the mentally ill. He later became a deputy attorney general in California and was elected to the state Assembly in 1990. He served more than 20 years in Congress, most recently as the House Democratic Caucus chairman.

The 19th annual Cesar E. Chavez Community Breakfast, celebrating the birth and legacy of the iconic civil rights and labor movement leader, and Cesar Chavez Day, was held at the Westin Gaslamp Hotel in downtown, March 31, 2017.

(Howard Lipin)

During his speech, Becerra made several references to his parents, both immigrants from Mexico. His father Manuel, who was born in Sacramento but raised in Tijuana, picked crops up and down the state of California before beginning a construction career that lasted 30 years. His mother, Maria Teresa, who left Guadalajara when she married, was a clerical worker and later purchased rental properties.

The family raised four children in Sacramento.

“I’ve been given the privilege to fill the glass, and working with you, that’s exactly what I intend to do,” said Becerra, a married father of three daughters. “I intend to fill it for every single person and every single family in America and in California who is working hard. Whether they have documents or not, they deserve to have a chance to believe in their children.”

After his speech, Becerra explained to reporters that an unauthorized immigrant who gets pulled over in the state for a broken tail light on a vehicle isn’t likely to be turned over to federal authorities. But someone who commits a serious offense such as rape or murder would be subject to detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I don’t think anyone in America is trying to protect people who are trying to do us harm,” Becerra said. “And that is what we have decided in the state of California. If you’re here to hurt people, you don’t belong here.”

The theme of Friday’s event was, “Honoring Sacrifices. Building for the Future,” a nod to the choices Chavez made to lead marches, call for boycotts and go on hunger strikes with a goal of improving compensation and labor conditions for farm workers. The event was held on March 31 — Chavez’s birthday — which is recognized as a state holiday in California.

Several groups and individuals were honored at the breakfast for the work they had done for others, including the volunteer organization Gay For Good San Diego, artist Armando Nuñez and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher.

High school and community college students were recognized as winners of an essay contest, with Gustavo Gutierrez of Southwest High School in San Diego securing the grand prize — a $1,000 scholarship and laptop computer.

Paul R. Chavez, president and CEO of the Chavez Institute for Law and Social Justice, said he and other family members were proud to attend events around the country to honor his grandfather, the civil rights leader. He said his grandfather was “a man about social justice,” but within that idea he stressed acceptance and tolerance.

“I think his message today would be that this country was built on diversity and inclusion, not on exclusion and homogeneity,” he said.